


Scars Exposed and Secrets Unfold

by disneyfananalyst



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Canon Compliant, Evie & Jay & Mal & Carlos de Vil as Found Family, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Malnutrition, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Sibling Love, Team as Family, but only through D2, not canon compliant with Descendants 3, not compliant with the books, realistic Isle of the Lost, the Isle of the Lost was a bad idea, the VKs take care of each other, the abuse and stuff is all former
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:14:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26293993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disneyfananalyst/pseuds/disneyfananalyst
Summary: When Lonnie learns something Jay and his friends have been hiding, questions about what the Isle was really like rise to the surface.A more mature view of the Descendants franchise.Currently on Hiatus, but will eventually be finished.
Relationships: Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Doug/Evie (Disney: Descendants), Evie & Carlos de Vil, Evie & Jay & Mal & Carlos de Vil, Evie & Jay (Disney), Evie & Mal (Disney), Jane/Carlos de Vil, Jay & Carlos De Vil, Jay & Mal (Disney), Jay/Li Lonnie
Comments: 1
Kudos: 73





	1. Scars Exposed

**Author's Note:**

> Since the Isle of the Lost is essentially an anarchy ruled by villains who cursed a baby (Maleficent), attempted to murder their stepdaughters (Evil Queen), tried to kill and skin 99 puppies (Cruella De Vil), and manipulated and almost killed people in order to take over a kingdom (Jafar), I figure that -in theory- it would be a very terrible place. Of course, some of the topics that would come up in this type of a place are too mature for Disney Channel, since it's watched by a lot of kids. This story should follow canon, however, it will imply other events took place outside of what we are shown in the movies. I will be taking the books into consideration, but may choose to ignore "Wicked World" and many parts of the books due to their inconsistencies that sometimes come up with head cannon as well as my story. If you want to talk about second tier inconsistencies, I'd be happy to do that some other time, but this is simply a warning/explanation for the ideas/plot of this story. Thank you for reading!
> 
> Warning: There are mentions of abuse in this story. If you do not wish to read about that, please stop now.
> 
> Disclaimer: Descendants is property of Disney Channel. I make no claim to own the characters, and have only written this only with love for Descendants and its characters. Thank you.

Jay was running late. His alarm hadn't gone off, and Carlos had woken him up 5 minutes ago when he came back from walking Dude. It was Saturday, and Jay was supposed to be working out with Lonnie in the gym. They'd gotten close since he made her captain of ROAR, and they had been going the to gym to lift weights together twice a week.

"Hey, I was starting to think you weren't coming," Lonnie joked as Jay dumped his bag on the floor.

"Please, you know I can't miss this," he said grinning.

They got started, taking turns spotting one another on different free weights, machines, and finally the bench press. By the end of their work out, they were both drenched in sweat. Jay took a drink from his water bottle, and then poured the rest on his head. He almost lifted his shirt off, but then remembering Lonnie's presence, he stopped.

Noticing what he had been about to do, Lonnie said, "I don't mind if you take your shirt off, Jay." She blushed, "I mean, most of the guys do it after tourney, anyway." Thinking back, she realized that Jay never had. Surely she would have noticed that, right? Even if she had somehow missed shirtless Jay, she would have heard all about it from all the girls that were always swooning over him.

"That's okay," he said, turning to fill his water bottle back up at the drinking fountain.

"I never realized you were so self conscious," Lonnie teased.

Jay sighed, and raised an eyebrow before he nodded and took off his shirt. Lonnie had been wiping her face on a towel, but when she looked up she gasped. Jay had scars all over his chest and torso. Some of them wrapped around his side, indicating that his back was scarred too. 

"What happened?" she asked in shock.

Jay looked down at his chest frowning, "Just my dad. Most of these are from years ago." He looked up at Lonnie and shrugged, "Mine actually aren't too bad. I was lucky that I could run out and avoid my dad's anger. Others can't."

Lonnie just stared, and tears began to form in her eyes. She couldn't understand how a parent could do that to their own kid.

"Maybe I should put my shirt back on," Jay said cautiously.

Lonnie tentatively reached out and ran her finger down the longest of Jay's scars. It began on his chest and continued underneath his left arm to his back. "How did you get this one?" she whispered.

Jay hesitated, unsure if he should trust Lonnie with insight about the island. How would she even react to this if she teared up at hearing that his and his friends' parents never made cookies for them? Then again, she did handle herself on the Isle pretty well. Besides, how else could he respond? Tell her he slipped on a banana peel and scraped up his chest? Seriously, what could he say? Anything about the Isle being comfortable or safe would be a complete lie. He sighed, "I was eight. I had tried to steal a vase for my dad's shop and got caught. I managed to escape home, but my dad was mad that I didn't have anything." He paused, deciding to spare her the details of how his dad had gone into a rage about Aladdin, genies, Auradon, and his incompetent imbecile of a son before throwing shrapnel and dishes at him. Lonnie seemed to be in shock from what he _had_ said, so he tried to make the experience seem positive. "I had to steal for my dad's shop, but that gave me an excuse to stay out, so I was able to avoid some of his other rages." Lonnie looked up at him.

"You know that I... we would never let that happen to you now, right?" she said slowly.

He smiled noticing her slip up. "Yeah." Trying to change the subject, he asked, "So, wanna go grab some lunch? I hear the special today is pizza."

"Y-yeah, I'll meet you there. I, uh, need to change."

"Okay," Jay said calmly. He pulled his shirt on and grabbed his bag to head out. "I'll meet you there."

Jay knew that she didn't need to change. She went out to dinner with the fencing team in her workout clothes all the time. He wasn't going to push her though, so he headed to the cafeteria to grab their usual table.

Lonnie let out a breath of air after Jay left the weight room. She realized that the Villain Kids' lives on the island were rougher than they let on. She also knew that Jay had purposely left out how his dad had cut or burned him. The scar had been thick, but Lonnie didn't know how to recognize the different methods of injury from scars. Not to mention that she didn't know how Jay had been able to treat the injury. She knew she'd have to go change since that was her excuse from Jay, but she had another stop to make first.


	2. Realizations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lonnie goes to Ben for advice, and Doug reveals what he's noticed all along.

Ben was trying to do paperwork on a Saturday morning. Yes, that's what came with being king. Technically, he didn't need to have this done quite yet, but he wanted to have as much of the weekend free to spend with Mal as possible. He put aside the latest agricultural report when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in."

"Ben?" Lonnie shut the door behind her, and Ben looked up to see tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "We need to talk."

"Yeah, what happened?" Ben asked worriedly _. Is someone hurt? Did I do something?_

"Has... does Mal talk to you much about her life on the Isle?"

Startled, Ben said, "Well, not really." He ran a hand through his hair. "I tried to ask after Cotillion, but she got really nervous, and I didn't want to push her. After seeing the Isle myself, I can see why she wouldn't want to talk about -"

"Hey, Ben." Doug walked into their room, and set his trumpet case on his bed, before walking to the closet to grab a change of clothes. "Oh, hey, Lonnie. What's wrong?" Seeing the tears in her eyes, stopped what he was doing to join her and his roommate by their desks.

"Um," Lonnie wasn't sure what to say. "Do- do Mal and Evie ever talk to you guys about their moms?" Doug was silent and looked at Ben, nodding at him to go first. _I wonder if she realized-_ Doug thought before Ben answered.

"I know Mal doesn't have the best relationship, but she does love Mal. She shrank to the size of the love in her heart, but she didn't disappear altogether. That love has to be for Mal, right?" Lonnie looked unsure, and Doug solemnly nodded, trying to think of what to say.

"Although Evie's told me a little bit about her mom, it's more about what she doesn't say," he started. Lonnie nodded again, remembering how Jay left out what his dad did to give him that scar. "She doesn't need to tell me what her mom was like, because I- I've seen it." Ben and Lonnie both stared at him, dumbfounded. _Okay, wrong choice of words._ "I mean," he sighed, "I mean that I've seen how it affected her - Evie. I wish I could stop her from hurting, she is so incredible and sometimes she doesn't even see it, but the best thing I can do is just be there for her when she needs me." Doug's brow furrowed in uncertainty, and he looked at Lonnie. He wondered if she noticed what he did. "Did- did Evie and Mal tell you something? About how their parents treated them, maybe?" Lonnie shook her head, unsure if she should say anything. Jay probably didn't want her to tell anybody about his scars, and telling Ben and Doug might betray his trust. But- on the other hand- Ben needed to know because he was the king, and Jay had said that others had it worse than he did. That could even mean Carlos, Evie, who's Doug's girlfriend, or Mal, Ben's girlfriend. Okay. It was now or never. She looked down at the floor.

"I saw Jay with his shirt off. He's got some bad scars." She looked up again at Ben. "That's why he never took his shirt off after Tourney practice with the rest of you guys." Ben frowned.

"You mean..." Lonnie nodded, and Ben's eyes widened. "Carlos never takes his shirt off either, and neither of them change in the locker rooms. I thought it was just weird for them since they never had to do that before, but..." he blew out a breath of air. "Are you sure about this?" Lonnie looked nervous, but Doug nodded.

"It's true, Ben. You should know." he said sadly. Ben turned to him in surprise.

"Did you know about this?" Doug shifted on his feet uneasily.

"I- well- I had my suspicions. I kinda thought you knew, too." He grimaced as he started to ramble. "They were kind of scared of personal contact when they first got here, and they got really tense when someone mentioned punishment. Jay and Mal always step in front when they feel threatened, and-"

"Oh! How could I not have seen this!" Ben put his hands up to his head. He grabbed his keys from his desk, and Doug looked at him.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go talk to Fairy Godmother," he said as he closed the door behind him.

"Doug," Lonnie said panicked, "what if Jay's mad I told you and Ben? What if he doesn't trust me anymore?"

"It's okay," Doug said. "I should have told Ben and Fairy Godmother about my suspicions months ago. This is partially my fault." _I don't know how I'm going to explain this conversation to Evie,_ he thought. "Whatever happens, it'll all be okay." _Eventually,_ he added in his head. Doug glanced at his watch. "I'm supposed to pick up Evie for lunch," he looked to Lonnie nervously. "Will you be okay?"

"Yeah," she smiled half-heartedly. "I'm gonna meet Jay there. He's probably already waiting for me." She turned to leave. "Thanks for the advice, Doug. I hope you're right." She left for her room to go change. At least then she wouldn't have completely lied to Jay. That didn't mean she didn't still feel guilty.


	3. Is ignorance truly ever more helpful than dangerous?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben speaks to Fairy Godmother.

Ben stormed down the hallway to the Fairy Godmother's office. How could I have been so blind? Their parents were villains for goodness sake. All the secrecy, insecurities, the fear: it all came from that. Ben didn't know what to feel. He was heartbroken that kids, his girlfriend probably, had to live through that. He couldn't imagine a life where he couldn't turn to his parents. He was disappointed, that even after he saw the Isle for himself, even after he told her he loves her, Mal didn't trust him enough to tell him about it. He realized now, why Evie was so desperate to get Dizzy and other kids off the Isle, and why his friends had been so scared of being sent back. It was why Carlos made that comment about their parents at his coronation, why Mal used to be so tense when he hugged her. It all made sense. Ben shuddered to think of what else they might be hiding from their past. If parents could do that to their kids, would they hesitate to do more?

He opened Fairy Godmother's door with out knocking, and the look on his face scared the poor student across from Fairy Godmother to grab his papers and scurry out the door.

"Ben! How lovely to see you? What can I do for y-"

"How much did you know about the kids on the Isle of the Lost before my proclamation?" Fairy Godmother stood up in shock.

"I -oh my-"

"Did you, my father, or anyone else even check up on them after trapping them on an island with the cruelest, most dangerous villains in Auradon?"

"Well, the first few years, yes, but-"

"Did you know how they lived there? How could I have been so naïve? How could anyone knowingly allow this to happen?"

"Ben!" Fairy Godmother reproached him in a whisper, "Lower your voice. Someone will hear you!"

"Lower my voice?" Ben yelled incredulously, "I just found out that my friends' parents beat them, and you expect me to lower my voice?"

"Do you think they want the whole school to know that?" Fairy Godmother hissed.

Ben stopped. No, no they wouldn't want everyone to know. There was no telling how Mal would react if this got out, and there was no way Mal would want to explain this to the press. Fairy Godmother spoke again in a sad voice.

"Ben, I did find out about their… ahh… home-lives when the nurse sent me their physicals from their first day here." Tears had gathered in her eyes. "It wasn't ideal, but there was nothing I could do."

"Nothing you could do? You could've told me, your King, what was going on there, so I could have gotten every last kid off that horrible island as soon as possible! I know that's what I need to do now!"

"You know how that would go. It was wise to only bring a few at a time. The public didn't like letting four children off the Isle, can you imagine what would have happened if you immediately brought over all of the others? Auradon would be in so much chaos that none of us would be able to help them acclimate, and they would be sent right back to the terrible place they came from. Even now, you can't bring them all over at once." Ben slumped, realizing the complexity of the situation. "What can I do?" Ben asked.

"You can start by comforting the friends you have now. I'm assuming that Mal told you about this, and you probably gave her quite a scare when you reacted like that."

"Actually," Ben winced in shame. "I didn't hear it from Mal. I didn't hear it from any of them." He paused, "Lonnie came to me for help after she found out about it from Jay." Fairy Godmother's eyes widened.

"Oh… so Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos don't know?" Her brow furrowed in worry. "Does anyone else know about this?" Solemnly, Ben nodded. "Doug walked in when Lonnie and I were talking, but it sounds like he had already figured it out." Fairy Godmother nodded.

"You'll need to talk to them, where they feel safe." She paused in thought. "It's my impression that they feel the most comfortable when they are all together." Ben nodded in agreement, and the Fairy Godmother continued. "If Jay felt comfortable enough to tell Lonnie, and since she told you about it, she should probably be there, as well. While I don't want them to feel as if you're how do you say… ganging up on them, it might be easier on them if all three of you are there when you tell them, so that you can tell them that you three are the only ones who know." Ben lifted his head slightly.

"What about you?" He questioned. "Don't we need to tell them that you know? Or will you be there?" Fairy Godmother shook her head.

"I talked to them not long after your coronation."

"What did they say?" Fairy Godmother shook her head again.

"That is between Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos, and myself. If they want to tell you, that is fine, but I will not."

Ben sighed, "What should I tell them? I can't imagine how they must feel."

"Be gentle. Don't ask them any questions, because they may not be ready to answer them. If they want to tell you, they will. Above everything else, make sure that they know you are there for them. A lot of kids who are abused or neglected think that it's their fault." Ben nodded.

"I guess I need to go find Lonnie and Doug then." He turned to leave. "Thank you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the information in Fairy Godmother's last line about what to say to an abused child is correct. I checked it online to make sure, but if you see any issues, let me know and I will fix them. Thank you.


	4. Doug's Observations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doug decides what to do after his conversation with Lonnie and Ben.

Doug was a bundle of nerves as he walked down the hallway in the girls' dormitory. He knew he needed to tell her about what just happened. After reading practically everything on the Internet and in the school library about how to deal with this type of situation, Doug had decided that it was better not to say anything. Whether Ben would believe him or not, there were reasons that he hadn't told anyone about his friends' lives on the Isle, a lot of reasons. Most of what he knew about the Isle he'd heard from Evie in confidence. Doug knew it hurt her to talk about it, so he never pushed her. Their parents weren't the only issue that Evie and her friends had on the Isle. If he told anyone what she told him, she would probably have to talk about it again, and he would never want to put her through that, especially the parts with her mother. Evie didn't need to think any more about what her mother said than she already did. Doug would never want to betray her trust, either.

Everything else that he had guessed about the Isle was from just watching Evie and her friends and paying attention to the offhanded comments that they made. He'd once heard Carlos and Jay talk about how "awesome" it was to sleep in a bed. Then there was the food issue. There were too many foods that were new to them, or that "didn't look the same here". They'd never had ice cream, pizza, or any food that wasn't rotten or moldy. The amount of food that they ate was also an issue, particularly with Evie and Mal. They didn't always eat enough; sometimes they didn't eat at all. When they were asked about it, the girls just said that they weren't used to eating more. That was concerning. Both of them were extremely light. Even though Doug had worked in his dad's mines as a kid, he was no weight lifter. Yet, he could easily lift his girlfriend, and comfortably carry her for a short while. Doug was honestly surprised that Ben and the others hadn't noticed any of these things.

That was another reason that he hadn't said anything. There didn't seem to be a need to tell anyone, because most of it seemed obvious. Did no one else notice the food thing? Or the defense positions? In retrospect, Doug could understand. When Evie had told him that she had gone to the Isle to rescue Ben, Doug had been so preoccupied with his own insecurities that it didn't sink in until a few minutes later. He'd decided not to make a big deal out of it, since he probably looked like an idiot.

On another note, since Evie, Mal, Jay, and Carlos were in Auradon, the only thing that alerting Fairy Godmother or someone else would do is push them into counseling. All of the other reasons to tell an adult about child abuse didn't really apply to their situation. They were already removed from their parents' care and never going back. Doug had purposefully dropped some comments about the location of the school counselor's office to the four in case they wanted it, but it seemed unlikely that they would want that. If Evie broke down in tears trying to talk to him about it, there was no way that she'd willingly go talk to some stranger. All of the villains' kids were defensive around new people, and Doug was one of the least scary people ever. Now, even though Doug had tried to avoid it, Evie and her friends were probably going to be forced into a situation like that. While they were trying to put that life behind them, they were going to be forced to relive it.

As Doug knocked on Evie's door, he shifted uneasily. She opened the door with a smile.

"Ready for lunch?" Before Doug could respond, she picked up on his nervousness. "Wait, what's wrong?" He gave a weak smile. It was now or never.

"When I - uh - went to change from my uniform, Ben and Lonnie were in my room talking." Evie frowned confused, and Doug wouldn't meet her eyes. "They um, know about some of what your parents did, on the Isle, to you guys." He looked up at her, scared of her reaction. Evie stared back at him, her eyes wide and her mouth forming an O.

"How- how did they find out?" She looked away, fearful of the answer.

"Lonnie said Jay told her. She was so upset that she went and told Ben. He went to talk to Fairy Godmother, and he'll probably want to talk to you about it. He was really upset."

Evie exhaled. She really didn't want to talk about it with Ben. Sure, he was a nice guy, but he would never understand. Fairy Godmother's talk hadn't been too bad, but she did help Cinderella out all those years ago. While she had been nice, it was just easier for Evie to open up to Doug. She was really relieved that he hadn't been the one to tell Ben. She knew he didn't just go sharing their conversations with everyone. She could trust him. And there was more to it. Evie knew she loved him. That made it easier to talk. But now that Ben knew about some of it, and he would want to know about everything. Should they try to leave some of it out? What could they convince Ben was everything? Evie closed her eyes. She still had nightmares over some of the things her mom did. Mal did, too. They had all learned very early not to disobey their parents. She shivered as she recalled the day their parents learned that they were friends.

Doug watched Evie carefully as she thought over what he said. She seemed okay at first, but then she closed her eyes and started trembling.

"Evie?" he asked. He knew she might be mad, but he took a step forward and hugged her, rubbing her back. She hugged him back, and gradually stopped shaking, falling limp in Doug's embrace.

"Go with me," she whispered. Doug blinked. That was the last thing he was expecting.

"Okay," he murmured. Evie pulled out of the hug and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you," Doug blinked again.

"What for?"

"For always being there for me."

"Of course." Doug's hands moved from her back to her shoulders. "Do you feel okay to go get lunch?" His brow furrowed in worry that she was going to refuse food again. She didn't always eat when she was upset.

Evie nodded, and Doug relaxed. This was going to be a very long day, but at least he could make sure that she was okay - at least as okay as she could be.

* * *

**In the cafeteria**

Evie really didn't want to eat right now. She actually felt a little bit queasy. She was fine to tell the whole world about her latest dress designs, but talking to Ben about the Isle, especially with Mal there, was going to be… hard. At least she would have Doug there. That way, even if Mal completely flipped and scared away Jay and Carlos, she would still have someone there with her. Evie knew that her friends would never intentionally leave her to deal with… that… by herself, but when Mal was angry, anything could happen. But for now Evie had to try to be perfectly calm. She nibbled on her slice of pizza, and raised the corners of her mouth as Doug tried to distract her.

"I hear that Ruby is going to be having a birthday ball in a few weeks. She's going to hand out invitations between classes on Monday." Evie swallowed and smiled.

"Yeah, I know. She came to me this morning to ask me to make her a dress. I've already got a few ideas." She started to think of the dress she had already mentally sketched.

Doug beamed at his successful girlfriend. Of course she was already thinking of Ruby's dress. He could see the wheels turning in her head as she thought over different materials.

"Hey, Doug. I was hoping I could talk to you and Lonnie about this morning." Doug and Evie both turned to look at Ben in surprise, and Evie tensed. Doug put his hand over Evie's on the table.

"That's okay, Ben. You go talk to Lonnie."

"But-"

"It's okay. I'm always prepared, remember?" He gave Ben a warning look, and his roommate finally understood. Doug was not leaving his girlfriend any time soon.

"Oh. Okay. I'll see you later then?" He turned to Evie. "Are you free later? Mal, Jay, and Carlos, too? It's been a while since I talked to all of you… you know… together..." Ben winced at how lame his excuse sounded. Evie nodded, somehow managing to keep a straight face. She wasn't supposed to know what he was talking about, but Evie knew that Ben had wanted to talk to Doug about the Isle. He wanted to talk about her and her friends, but Doug said no. Why?

"Yeah, how about 3:00?"

"Yeah, um," Ben paused, "do you think Jay and Carlos would be okay with us… hanging out in their room." Evie raised an eyebrow, in question, but still answered.

"Yeah, sure, I'll tell them."

Ben stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do. "Okay, thanks." He gave a short wave goodbye, and headed to talk to Lonnie. How was he going to do this?

Evie stared off into space as Ben left. _The real question is what I'm going to tell them,_ she thought. She frowned, and Doug squeezed her hand comfortingly. She gave him a sad smile. _I really hope that Mal doesn't lose it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought that I needed to address why Doug hadn't told an adult or Ben, since that is what you are supposed to do in a situation like this. It was really bothering me. Also, you may have realized that I have stuck with the more observant and bold Doug from the first Descendants. He actually admitted to stalking Evie, so I wanted to give some reason for the small character change in the second movie.


	5. Conversation? Feels like confrontation.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben finally talks to the VKs.

It was 2:50, and the villains' kids were all gathered in Jay and Carlos' room with Doug. They were all nervous to some extent of why Ben wanted to talk to them. He hadn't asked to talk with the four of them specifically, since… ever. It wouldn't be so strange that Ben wanted to hang out with them, Doug, Lonnie, and Jane, since they mostly hung together around school, but no one had heard anything about Jane coming, since she was supposed to be off with her mother regarding the Radcliffe's Dalmatian Plantation taking in shelter dogs. Doug had come to find Jay, Carlos, and Mal with Evie, and she said he was staying, and that Ben had mentioned him and Lonnie meeting with them here when had found them leaving the cafeteria together. Jay worried that it might have something to do with his conversation this morning with Lonnie, but he didn't want to say anything.

"Are you sure that Ben wants all of us here?" Carlos asked. Evie nodded.

"He said he wanted to talk to us 'as a group'," she said for the hundredth time. Evie was standing next to the door, and she leaned back against Doug, who hadn't left his girlfriend's side since picking her up for lunch. Mal and Carlos looked between Evie and Jay, since they had actually talked to Ben, but either they didn't know any more information, or they weren't telling. Mal was especially concerned. Ben was _her_ boyfriend, but she heard about this meeting from Evie, only getting a text from Ben to make sure that she would be here.

"And nobody knows why we need to 'talk'?" Mal gave both of her friends a glare, and they both looked away uncomfortably. _Yup. They're holding out, and definitely not telling,_ she thought. Mal paced the room anxiously, just waiting for a knock on the door.

"Maybe Ben wants to talk to us about the other kids he's bringing from the Isle," Carlos said.

Mal shook her head, but then looked at Evie who was definitely worried. Maybe Carlos was right. But then why would Ben need all of them here? And why would Lonnie be coming? Her eyes widened as she realized one reason Lonnie could be coming. Surely he didn't want to talk about the events leading to Cotillion right? Maybe she was paranoid, but she was sure she heard her boyfriend on the other side of the door. Mal released a huff that sounded more like a growl as she went to the door. The others gave her confused and worried looks as she opened the door, revealing Ben and Lonnie, who smiled sheepishly. Mal tried to put a smile on her face, for Ben's sake. Besides, it was just Ben, the boy who loved her and would never want to hurt her. This couldn't be too bad. She gestured for them to come in, and Ben took her hand looked around the room.

"Oh, you're all here. Okay…" Ben had spent all afternoon thinking about it, and he still wasn't sure how to begin the conversation. He could feel the tension radiating around the room, and he sat down on the floor, pulling his girlfriend with him. Maybe they wouldn't feel so intimidated if he was sitting. Mal had sat down next to him, and nodded at Jay, Carlos, and Evie. They joined them on the floor, Evie practically sitting in Doug's lap. Doug's arms were wrapped around his girlfriend, and Ben was surprised. He didn't think he'd ever seen Doug this protective. There must have been a lot that Doug didn't tell him, especially since he could count the times that he'd seen Evie nervous like this on one hand. She must know what they were going to talk about. Maybe they all did. Ben turned to see Lonnie on the floor next to Jay, her hand in his _. Well_ , he thought _. It's now or never._

"So I just wanted to make sure that you are all okay." He paused _. No Ben, be clearer_ , he thought to himself. "If you ever want, or need, to talk about _anything_ , you can talk to me. Or Doug or Lonnie," he added. Mal and Carlos stared at him wearily, while Jay looked at the floor, and Evie had her eyes squeezed shut. "I umm…" _Oh let's just get it over with_. "I know that your parents hurt you." Carlos froze, and Ben felt Mal's hand went hard like stone. She pulled it out of his own and stood up, glaring at Evie and Jay.

"Did you two know about this?" She yelled. Neither of them would look her in the eye. _They did!_ She seethed, and her voice went dangerously low as she looked at Ben. "How?" Ben opened his mouth to respond, but Jay beat him to it, knowing that she probably thought that Ben knew what her mother did. Jay had to stop this before she got dangerous.

"Lonnie saw some of my scars. I didn't tell her anything about you guys." He stood up, and went to go comfort his sister, but she wouldn't let him near her. "Mal, I didn't tell him. I wouldn't tell him without asking you first. I wouldn't tell anybody. You know that." Mal's felt her fury starting to recede. She looked at Evie before it dissipated.

"And you?" Evie stared at the floor. Mal could feel how much she was hurting. It made her regret the tone that she was using.

"Doug's been helping me keep it together for a while now." She looked up at Mal, and quickly added, "But I haven't told him anything about you or your mom." She glanced at Carlos, and her blood went cold. "Carlos!" Everyone turned to look at the boy who seemed to be frozen. Evie pulled herself up, and she, Jay, and Mal all rushed over to his side as he started shaking. Mal's anger turned to fear.

"Carlos," she said, "It's okay. We're here. You're in Auradon." She snapped in front of his face, to get his attention, but he was unresponsive.

"Buddy," Jay tried, "she's gone, she can't get you. We'll protect you." Evie knelt in front of him, and turned to Jay.

"What do you usually do?" she asked.

"Usually?" Ben echoed in shock. Jay raised a hand to his forehead.

"I talk to him like I just did, but Dude's usually here." Evie groaned internally. Dude was with Jane today.

"Get his pillow." She hugged Carlos as tight as she could, whispering in his ear. "It's okay. It's Evie. Remember? Your mother's gone, it's just a dream. We're in Auradon now, remember? We're safe. Remember Dude? And Jane?" He stopped shaking, and Ben watched in confusion as Jay handed Evie Carlos' pillow. "Look at this, Carlos. It's your pillow." Mal stepped back, and Evie held Carlos' wrist, rubbing his arm over the pillow a couple of times. "You have a pillow now." Carlos blinked a few times and looked up at his friends.

"Hey, guys." He looked around in confusion. "Where's Dude?"

"Where's Dude?" Mal fumed. "You scared us half to death, and you ask 'where's Dude?'!" Evie sent her an angry glare, but Carlos grinned.

"Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for," Evie quickly replied. Doug was the next to get his bearings after the unexpected episode.

"Do you want to see Dude? I can call Jane. She'd be happy to see you." Carlos glanced at his friends before nodding. Doug looked at Evie carefully.

"I'm gonna call Jane, but I'll be right outside the door."

"Doug," Mal interjected. "Don't mention what happened." Doug nodded, and carefully closed the door behind him.


	6. Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone tries to recover after Carlos' panic attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am still mostly skating around the graphic stuff, since I don't think that any of them would talk about it in a group like this, but there is some short stuff here. Thank you to all of you who reviewed. It makes my day every time I read them. Special thanks to HawkFrost99 for their suggestions and ideas. The poison idea came from them, and I will go deeper into that and use some of their other ideas soon. Thank you for your support. Happy reading!

After Doug went outside, the room was silent for a few seconds. Mal began pacing again, but Ben was confused.

"What just happened?" he asked. Mal stopped pacing and looked ready to blow her top, but Jay grabbed her shoulder. She gave Jay a dirty look, and he stepped away with his hands up in surrender. Evie took this as a chance to intervene.

"Carlos just… forgot he was in Auradon for a minute," she said carefully. She had to appear strong, or else Carlos would fall apart again and Mal would erupt. Ben looked at her, perturbed.

"You said 'usually'. You asked Jay what he 'usually' did." Evie's eyes widened, Mal clenched her fist, Jay stepped back uncomfortably, and Carlos looked at the floor. Noticing the tension, Lonnie stood and took Jay's hand. Ben continued, "Has this happened before? Does it happen a lot?" No one would meet his eyes now, not even Evie. She looked to Mal, asking for permission. Mal gave a small shake of her head. No. She was their leader. She would handle this.

"Look," she said, attempting to speak calmly. There was a knock on the door, and Doug stepped back inside Jay and Carlos's room.

"Jane said that she'll be leaving the Radcliffe's soon, and she and Dude should be back around six." Doug looked around the room. _Oh, no,_ he thought. _I've interrupted something._ The room was silent for a moment, as everyone waited for Mal to continue talking. Realizing that everyone was staring at her, Mal addressed Ben, Lonnie, and Doug.

"I don't want to say this twice." Mal hesitated, before saying. "I'm sure you all know that moving to Auradon was a big adjustment for us." She paused. "You probably also know that Auradon is very different from the Isle." She gave a melancholy laugh, "But there is a lot that you don't know." Mal sobered, turning to Ben. "Yes, Carlos has had panic attacks before, though they're better now than they were." She glanced at Evie and Jay before turning back to Ben. "We all have something like that: panic attacks, nightmares, scars. Things happen when you disappoint your parents." Ben was trying to take in all that she was saying. "Well, when _we_ disappointed _our_ parents."

"When I didn't fluff her furs enough," Carlos shuddered. Jay put a protective hand on his shoulder as he gave another explanation.

"When I didn't steal a big enough score." Lonnie looked at Jay, and rose to go stand beside him. She would be there for him if he wanted her. Everyone turned their heads as Evie hung hers, whispering,

"When I wasn't pretty enough." Doug immediately crossed to her and soothingly rubbed circles on her back. He whispered into his girlfriend's ear while his roommate stared in shock _. How could she not be pretty enough?_ Ben thought _. Evie's a knockout. Even Audrey goes to her for beauty tips. Any fool could-_ His thoughts were interrupted when Mal added her own statement.

"When I was weak." Ben took Mal's hands in his own.

"Mal - I - you're not weak. You're the strongest person I know." Mal pulled her hand away and averted her eyes.

"Yeah, well, there's a lot you _don't_ know," she mumbled. She could feel everyone watching her, waiting for her to say more. "I'm done talking," she said stiffly. Ben tried to take her hand back.

"Mal, I-"

"No." Mal turned, ignoring Ben, and yelled at Jay and Evie. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell Carlos? You could have at least prepared us for this. That panic attack? You could have prevented it." She looked between her three adoptive siblings. "We are a team. We stick together. We're supposed to always have each other's backs." Evie and Jay looked guilty, and Jay tried to interject.

"Do you really think that would've helped? You would have flipped the h*** out, and Carlos still would've had a-"

"So you think this is any better?" Mal yelled. Evie pushed Doug back towards the wall protectively. Jay had spoken too soon. "At least then we could have come up with a plan-"

"Mal, you don't need a plan here, everything's going to be okay," Ben said calmly.

"Easy for you to say!" Mal's eyes flashed a dangerous green and Evie winced. Mal was starting to go angry dragon, and was no stopping her now. "You haven't had your dad whip you or throw dishes and whatever else he can find at you." Jay cringed. "You haven't had your mom use your skin to put out her cigarettes." Carlos flinched. "Or chain you up in a dungeon." Evie inhaled sharply, and Mal stopped, her voice going eerily low. "And you sure as h*** haven't had your parents force you to watch as your friends' parents cut them. Stab them. Burn them. Use them as a Guinea pig for poisons." Doug came back from the wall to hug his girlfriend from behind after she jumped from hearing the word "poisons". Ben stood in a state of shock.

"Mal, I - I had no idea." He suddenly pulled her into a bone crushing hug, and she blinked, stepping back out of his embrace. She looked at Ben in fear, and then turned to look at Evie, Jay, and Carlos.

"I- I'm so sorry." Mal ran out of the room, as the world around her blurred. _What did I just do?_ She thought as she struggled to see where she was going, running down the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, in case it's unclear, I did not intend any Ben/Evie. Ben's thought about Evie was simply there to show how confused he is (and likely how everyone else in Auradon would be) that Evie's mother didn't think she was beautiful enough.


	7. Interacting on the Isle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evie and Carlos explain some things about the Isle to the AKs.

"Mal!" Ben tried to run out of the room after her, but he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to face Jay. "I have to go after her. I have to make sure she's okay-"

"No," Jay interrupted. Ben stopped and just looked at him. "Mal isn't okay. She will never be okay. That's something that you need to understand." He turned to his other two friends. "I'll go talk to her." Ben looked about to protest.

"I'll come with you," Evie said quickly, still trying to calm down herself.

"No." Jay shook his head. "Stay here. You haven't known Mal for as long as I have, and there are some things that no one else will understand, not even you." Evie and Carlos both looked hurt, and Jay softened. "I didn't mean it like that." With that, Jay turned and strode out of the room. Ben started to follow, but he froze as he realized that Jay was right. Ben didn't know how to comfort Mal. It hurt to think that he couldn't even comfort his girlfriend, but she needed someone who understood what was going on. Ben wasn't blind. He could see that the four of them were really close. They were like brothers and sisters. He had never wondered why, just assumed that they were always that way.

"What did he-" Ben stopped, realizing that his question might touch a nerve, but Evie already knew what he was trying to ask.

"What did he mean?" She paused, glancing at Carlos before she looked down at the floor. "The four of us, well, we hadn't always been friends." Evie paused again, and Carlos nodded in encouragement. "It's not like you can really call anyone a friend on the Isle. You might be a part of a gang, but you never have anything more than allies, and even that's not acceptable." Ben looked surprised. It always seemed like Mal, Jay, Evie, and Carlos had been friends, and when he was on the Isle, it seemed like Uma, Harry, and Gil were friends. Evie had even insisted that they take Jay and Carlos with them to find Mal after she left because there was strength in numbers. How could friends, or even allies, not be acceptable? Carlos must have read Ben's mind.

"Why do you think villains never work together?" he asked. Lonnie, who had been quiet so far, was the first to speak up.

"Maybe they'd be too busy fighting over who was in charge to do anything?" she asked. Carlos and Evie shared a small smile. They'd certainly seen that when they were working on the plan to take Fairy Godmother's wand, but that wasn't the real reason. Ben's eyes widened as he realized how this related to what Mal said earlier.

"They don't want to appear weak," he said in awe of the realization. "Accepting help would be admitting to needing it." Carlos and Evie both nodded.

"But wait," Lonnie interjected "what about Maleficent's goblins? Don't they help her?" Carlos shook his head while Evie responded.

"That's different. The goblins are Maleficent's servants, her minions. They don't help her, she controls them."

"They're like a demonstration of power," Carlos explained.

"Is that what the gangs are like?" Ben asked. Evie and Carlos shared a skeptical look.

"Well…" Evie started. What could she say? "The gangs are powerful, but they're different. You don't worry about anyone you can overpower or manipulate. They're beneath you, and aren't in your gang, but controlled by it." She glanced at Carlos before looking back at Ben. "At least most of the time." She paused in thought. How could she explain this? Even though people in gangs had more power, they relied on trust, so they were only adopted by the villains' kids, and never intentionally. "You don't go trying to create a gang. It just happens. Just because villains don't work together doesn't mean that they never make deals. That's how gangs are formed. Deals." She paused again, taking a deep breath to try and stop the flashbacks. "That's actually how I met Mal. Even though there are two castles on the Isle, my mom's is the only one that has a dungeon."

Worried about where her story was going, Doug stepped to wrap his arm around Evie's waist for support.

"My mom made a deal with Maleficent that Maleficent could use the dungeon in exchange for ingredients to her… potions. Mal and I were down there at the same time, and we made a deal of sorts." The deal, that day, was still fresh in her mind. Evie stiffened as the flashback overtook her.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Her head felt hazy, as her mind started to recognize where she was, and the pain. Evie winced and gasped as the burning on her stomach registered in her brain. It was hard to breath in the musty, stone dungeon, and the sores across her front didn't make it any easier. Her wrists ached from straining against the chain manacles, which dangled just above her head. She tried to lift her arms to release some of the tension, but it was too difficult. The new potion must not have worn off yet.

"So the princess is awake."

Evie tried to raise her head towards the voice, but it was too much. Her head pounded from the small movement.

"Who-"

Evie took another breath to stop the flashback, and stood up straight, as she had started to subconsciously lean back into Doug. She looked at Carlos, who raised an eyebrow in concern. She shook her head. She was fine. She raised her chin again and cleared her throat, to give off more confidence. "Anyway, that deal, or deals, forced us to depend on one another, and I at least began to trust her. Eventually, well…" Ben watched her expression harden, as she tensed again before jolting herself back to speak with a strong voice. She wasn't going to succumb to another flashback, not that one. "I learned that my trust wasn't for nothing, Mal introduced me to Jay, and I introduced her to Carlos. " Carlos eyed her wearily, and continued before she could. He knew what was going on, even if she tried to hide it.

"We each had our strengths, and our gang became powerful. People learned not to mess with us, and we ruled our part of the Isle, though Mal was the obvious leader." Ben and Lonnie both gave slight nods.

"How did you guys become friends?" Lonnie asked. "You're all pretty close now." Carlos responded again.

"We started to trust each other, built the hideout not too long before coming to Auradon. We started to care about one another, in little ways." Evie interrupted in a quiet voice.

"We helped each other out when our parents were… difficult." She looked at Carlos and did a small shake of her head. That should be enough information about the Isle for now. They didn't need to talk about how their parents reacted when they found out. No stranger to manipulation, she turned the conversation away from the Isle. "Then we got even closer when we came to Auradon." No parents to hide from, she added in her head. "We talked a lot more, and didn't have to be secretive about our friendship anymore, since you all expected it of us."

Ben scratched his head nervously, thinking over everything he'd heard today. "We expected a lot, didn't we?" Carlos raised an eyebrow at Evie, who seemed just as confused. She hadn't expected him to say that. What did he mean by it?

"I'm sorry for everything that you guys went through. I'm sorry for being so naïve." He looked at Evie. "I'll try to speed up the process for the next group of kids, maybe add some more of the younger ones into the mix." She nodded, surprised. "I'm so sorry for everything."

"No." Everyone turned to look at Carlos. "No," he repeated. "Don't be sorry. We knew that you didn't know. We should have told you sooner."

"But that wasn't just your decision to make." Everyone turned again to face the voice coming from the door. Mal's voice.


	8. Family Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jay's concerns over how his sisters have adapted to living in Auradon grow as he comforts Mal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really want to thank all of you for reading and keeping up with this story. I can't even express how much it means to me when I read a review or see that someone has followed, favorited, or just said that they like this story. I never expected much of a response, and your support always makes my day.I want to especially thank Hawkfrost99 for the encouragement, ideas, and support. Hawkfrost99's story "Life on the Isle - Short Stories" is simply incredible, and I'd love to encourage any of you who like this story to check that out, too, because they have written it in connection to this one.
> 
> Now without further ado, chapter 8!

"I'm sorry for everything that you guys went through. I'm sorry for being so naïve." Ben looked at Evie. "I'll try to speed up the process for the next group of kids, maybe add some more of the younger ones into the mix." She nodded, surprised. "I'm so sorry for everything."

"No." Everyone turned to look at Carlos. "No," he repeated. "Don't be sorry. We knew that you didn't know. We should have told you sooner."

"But that wasn't just your decision to make." Everyone turned again to face the voice coming from the door. Mal's voice.

* * *

"And it wasn't mine either." Mal was standing in the doorway with Jay behind her. His arm was around her shoulders protectively, and he watched her carefully. Tears still glistened in her eyes, but she looked up and nodded to Jay. He removed his arm, and she walked over to Evie and Carlos trying to cover the slight shake in her step. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have tried to stop you guys from saying something. I should've-"

"Mal," Evie interrupted her best friend, wrapping her in a hug. "It's okay." She pulled away, but kept he hands on Mal's shoulders. "We knew that you were only trying to protect us. We were responsible, too." Mal shook her head. Regardless of what Evie said, she still felt responsible for her and Carlos. They were like her younger siblings. She knew it was the same for Jay. He would do practically anything to protect them. He'd proven that enough times.

A few moments before Jay had found her halfway down the stairwell to the girls dorms, sobbing silently. Her forehead was resting on her knees, which she had tucked into her chest. "Hey," Jay murmured as he slid down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She turned toward him to cry into his chest, and he just held her for a few minutes. "It's okay, now" he whispered. "They're safe. We're safe."

"I know." Mal's voice was quiet and unsteady. "I know. I just, sometimes I just remember that day, and I-" she looked up at Jay, her eyes wide. "It just all feels so real. I will never forget the look on Carlos's face, Evie screaming." She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force the images to leave her. "If I had never gone to the docks that day-" she stopped, and Jay held her tighter.

"Mal, it's not your fault. It would have happened. There was nothing we could have done to prevent it." Mal pulled back, looking away.

"But everything got worse because of me. My mom-" he voice broke. "My mom knew. She knew that I had started to care." She looked Jay in the eye again. "If I had hidden it better, that never would have happened. If I had kept her believing that lie then-"

"Mal," Jay interrupted. "They were going to find out eventually. You did what you had to do, and you were good enough at pretending that Evie and Carlos were afraid to get close to you until we came to Auradon." Mal looked down.

"I regret that. I should have told them earlier." Jay shook his head.

"They figured it out before you told them at the coronation." Mal looked up in confusion.

"How do you know?" Jay gave a hint of a smile.

"After family day, I heard Carlos ask Evie if she thought you'd help him protect Dude from his mom after we brought down the barrier." He shrugged. "She assured him that you would. We'd all help, but he was asking about you." Mal was silent for a minute.

"I still should have told them. They should have known that I cared about them before my mom did." Jay shook his head, putting a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

"Mal," he whispered, "you've got to stop blaming yourself." He paused. "I know that's why you didn't want to tell Ben about the stuff with our parents or anyone about what happened that day. Before cotillion, you thought that Ben expected you to be perfect, so you didn't want to tell him then, because you thought he would see you as a failure. Now, you know that he loves you, would never see you as a failure and would only try to help, but you don't want to tell him because you think you don't deserve it." Mal looked at him about to argue, but Jay kept going. "Well if you don't deserve it, then neither do I."

"Jay-"

"Do you think I didn't used to lie awake at night wondering how I could have stopped it? I finally overpowered my dad, and then I couldn't save you." Jay hugged her, and Mal slowly accepted the hug, returning it. "Mal, you're like my little sister." Mal tried to jokingly shove him for using the word 'little', but she didn't put enough energy into it, and ended up just leaning into him. Jay held on to her. "I would do anything to protect you and I couldn't." He paused for a moment. "That's why I didn't really tell Lonnie this morning," he admitted. "I told her that one of my scars was from when my dad got mad. Nothing more. I didn't say anything about how I got it, and I won't say anything about what happened that day our parents got together if you don't want me to. That can stay between us. No one will know what really happened but us, not even Evie and Carlos. " Mal frowned.

"They deserve to know what happened, I just-" she sighed. "They don't need anything else to have nightmares about." Jay's eyebrows furrowed.

"Evie's still having nightmares?" Mal nodded grimly and Jay raised a hand to his head.

"Which kind?" Mal bit her lip as she recalled the two main things that gave her best friend nightmares.

"Both." Jay's eyes widened.

"When she started dating Doug I thought that she was starting to move on, that they would go away." Mal shook her head.

"They're less often now, but she still has them."

"How about you?" Mal blinked. Jay's question had caught her off guard.

"What do you mean?" she feigned. Jay huffed, knowing that she knew what he was asking.

"Have your nightmares gotten any better?" Mal bit her lip again.

"I don't have them every night anymore." Jay frowned. He could guess at what Mal wasn't saying, but he knew how to get a real answer of how often the girls had nightmares.

"If I broke into your room tomorrow morning before Evie's alarm went off would I find you in the same bed?" Mal looked away. There was his answer.

"It's good that they didn't split us up," he thought out loud. The girls were together. They could help each other at night, and he could help Carlos. Mal looked up at him, confused.

"What?"

"It's good that when Ben invited us to Auradon, whoever assigned us our rooms kept you and Evie, and Carlos and me together." Mal nodded.

"It would have been a disaster if they had split us up. What would have happened to Carlos if he was rooming with anyone else?" Jay grew somber.

"Whoever it would have been probably would have gone to Fairy Godmother, but they might not have kept it a secret. The stuff with our parents probably would have come out a lot sooner." Mal nodded grimly, and then raised an eyebrow.

"So you didn't say anything about that day?" Jay gave a slight shake of his head.

"I'm sorry," Mal whispered, looking away as tears started gathering in her eyes again.

"What for?" Mal ducked her head.

"I blew up. I got so angry at you for telling Lonnie about your dad, when that wasn't even my choice." Jay turned her face to look at him.

"It's fine." Mal finally looked at him, and realized that he wasn't angry with her.

"You're not mad?" Jay shook his head, still serious, a rarity for him.

"No. I know why you did it. That's enough for me." Mal nodded and then closed her eyes in dread.

"I need to go back and explain. Apologize to Evie… and Ben." Jay nodded. He stood up, and pulled her with him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders to support her on the walk back, and after if need be.

* * *

"E, I'm always going to feel responsible for you," she looked at Carlos, "and Carlos, and Jay, but that doesn't mean that I should make choices for you guys. I'm sorry for getting so angry." Evie nodded, starting to tear up, and Carlos gave a small smile.

"It's okay." Mall nodded, giving a nervous laugh as she hugged Evie and Carlos before turning around.

"Ben."

"Yes, Mal?" The young king stood wide-eyed, not knowing what to do.

"I love you." Ben smiled and took Mal's hands in his own.

"I love you, too."

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, and for keeping secrets from you." Ben's smile disappeared again. "I still can't tell you everything. I'm not ready for that, and maybe I never will be, but I'll tell you what I can about the Isle. Carlos is right." She glanced at the boy as she said his name. "You need to know."


	9. Adjusting and Reconnecting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jay and Carlos reconnect with their sister.

Ben didn't know what to say. Mal was going to tell him what happened on the Isle, well... some of it. He stared at her, concerned. She still had tears glistening in her eyes, and her face was red from crying. Should he try to comfort her? Hug her? Was that what made her run off before? He didn't know. Mal must have sensed his unease, because smiled half-heartedly and pulled herself closer to him.

"Let's go talk somewhere alone, okay?" she said quietly. Ben nodded and wrapped his arm around her as she turned to face Evie again. "E? We'll talk later?" Evie nodded solemnly, and Mal gave a short nod back before leaving the room with Ben. As they passed through the doorway, Jay shot Ben a warning glance. He had better take care of Mal. Jay held the door open watching as they left. He looked at Lonnie and Doug, and jerked his head to the open door, signaling them to get out. Doug exchanged a glance with Evie before nodding and walking to the door.

"Come on, Lonnie. Let's give them some space." She bit her lip.

"Jay, I-"

"Go. I'll talk to you later." She nodded, and followed Doug out of the room. Jay watched as they got part way down the hallway before closing the door and locking it behind him. Carlos had pulled over his desk chair, and Evie was sitting on the edge of Jay's bed. She sighed.

"Well that just happened." Carlos raised his eyebrows and nodded in agreement as Jay tucked his hands behind his back.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you what happened this morning," he said as he strode over to join Evie on his bed. She hugged him to tell him that it was okay, and he wrapped his arm around her. Carlos shook his head.

"It probably wouldn't have made a difference anyway." Evie nodded sheepishly.

"I knew what we were probably going to talk about, and I didn't warn you guys either." She looked at Carlos, who had gotten up from his chair to sit on her other side. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. He took her hand from her lap and squeezed it.

"It's okay." Carlos gave a small smile. "I think I've had enough apologies for today." Evie chuckled.

"Me too." Jay cracked a smile and almost cracked a joke before he remembered why he wanted to talk to them.

"Hey, Evie?"

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you stop coming to me?" Evie looked at her lap and didn't say anything. Carlos' eyes widened in surprise as he realized that Jay's question was about. He carefully watched his sister as she sat frozen, worried after what happened earlier.

"Evie?"

"I don't know," she finally answered. "I guess I just got caught up in everything." She glanced at Jay before looking away again. "I have school and Evie's 4 Hearts, and Mal needed me." She looked between Jay and Carlos. "You guys have tourney and ROAR. You don't need to worry about me, and it's gotten better," she said optimistically. Jay raised an eyebrow. He didn't believe that after his conversation with Mal. Carlos just looked at her incredulously.

"How bad was it before?"

"Not that bad." Evie pulled her hand away to rustle Carlos' hair playfully. She didn't want them to worry. She would be fine. She knew she would be fine. "Nothing to worry about." Jay frowned, and Carlos eyes managed to get even bigger as he realized he'd heard this before.

"But you zoned out today, in the middle of talking to Ben!"

"Wait, what?" Jay looked between Evie and Carlos. "When did this happen?"

"It wasn't a big deal," Evie tried to protest. "I'm fine." Jay looked at Carlos.

"It was after you went after Mal."

"It really wasn't a big deal! I just had a little flashback." Carlos turned back to Evie in disbelief.

"You started shaking! You almost fell, and Doug had to catch you!" Evie blinked, and she felt Jay's arm tense around her.

"I did?" she asked surprised. She hadn't realized that she was falling.

"Yeah, and then you just started talking again like nothing happened."

"What was it about?" Jay asked quietly. Evie looked at him confused.

"What?"

"The flashback. What was it about?" He felt her shudder against his arm.

"The day I met Mal," she murmured. Jay nodded and pulled her in closer. He was almost relieved. That day was better than a lot of other things she might have remembered.

"I'll never forget when Mal told me that you helped her escape from that place. That was the first time I ever heard her admit that she needed help." Evie cracked a smile, and Carlos chuckled.

"That must have been a momentous occasion." Jay smiled at Carlos before looking back to Evie in his arms.

"Shocked me. I didn't know what to say, but I knew that you must be pretty special for her to let you in like that." Evie leaned closer into his side.

"Thanks, Jay." He nodded, glad that she had relaxed again, but he was still concerned. Evie had always been the most emotional of the group, she was… delicate. Jay had been protecting her since the night that they met. He always walked her home at night, or sometimes would take her somewhere else if it wasn't safe for her to go back.

That was one reason that they needed the hideout. The other was more complicated. Evie had known Carlos long before he and Mal had, and had been stitching him up and caring for him after his mother's attacks for years. She had never wanted Carlos to worry about her, so he hardly knew when she was having issues with her own mom. But Jay walked her home at night, so he always knew when she couldn't be near her mother, and he knew whenever she broke down because what happened the night he and Mal saved her. That night Jay gained another little sister. He had to protect her, comfort her when her mother or the stress from being on the Isle almost broke her, and make sure that she ate. The hideout gave him a place safe to do that, and a way for him and Mal to watch over Evie and Carlos, even when they didn't know it.

Here in Auradon, Jay could comfort his chosen family anywhere, as everywhere was safe from their parents, but now he couldn't watch over the girls as closely as he had before. When Evie stopped going to see him about her nightmares, Jay had assumed that they had gone away, and after her mother became a lizard, Jay thought Mal would feel less pressure and stress. He never imagined that she would feel even more pressure as Ben's girlfriend. Jay felt guilty for missing so much and not checking on them more, but he knew he couldn't dwell on it. Jay would just roll with the punches, and make sure he didn't make the same mistake again.

"Come to me when this stuff happens, okay?" He gently turned Evie's head to make her look at him. " I don't care when or what's going on, I want you to come see me. Just like before we came here." Carlos cleared his throat, and Jay and Evie turned to him.

"I'm here, too. Anytime you, you know, wanna talk." Jay gave him a small smile. Evie nodded solemnly and bit her lip.

"Okay."


	10. Comfort isn't hard to come by anymore.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mal tries to talk about the Isle with Ben, and Jane returns with Dude.

Mal was going to do it. She was going to do it, and she had to do it now before she lost her nerve. She strode through the hallway with powerful strides, Ben following a pace behind her. She was nervous, but she wouldn't let it show. Fear, of any kind, showed weakness. Your enemy knew that they'd gotten under your skin. But confidence, a quick wit, and unwavering attention was intimidating, powerful even. Hopefully that would be enough. Mal waltzed into her room, swiftly closing the door behind Ben.

"Mal, I- you don't have to talk about it. I'm so sorry for pushing, I just wanted you guys to know that you could talk if you wanted to, and-"

"Ben," she interrupted. "I should have talked to you a long time ago. This isn't just about me." Wait, what? Ben thought that they were here to talk about her mom. Was there something else he was missing?

"What do you mean?" he asked. Instead of answering him, Mal responded with another question.

"What do you think the Isle's like?"

"Huh?"

"You've been there now," she said nonchalantly."What do you think living on the Isle is like?"

"Uh, I don't know." Ben thought back to how Evie, Jay, and Carlos instructed him to act on the Isle. "Chill?" Mal sighed and decided to change tactics.

"What's the scariest thing that you've ever done?" She caught Ben off guard.

"I almost lost you," he said simply. A trace of a smile grazed Mal's lips.

"You're sweet," she said before becoming serious again. "But that's not what I mean." She thought for a second. "When you were on Uma's ship, were you afraid that you were going to die?" Ben nodded.

"Yeah, of course. I still had hope that you might come for me, or someone would get the guards, but I was still scared."

"Imagine being scared like that, all the time, except that no one from Auradon would come to save you. No one from Auradon would even care what happens to you. Maybe no one would care at all." Ben's eyes went wide. "That is what living on the Isle is like." Ben wanted to say something, to try and comfort Mal, but he couldn't seem to make sound come out of his mouth. "And that's the easy part." Mal turned away, almost starting to pace. "Caring: that's what's hard! It's _hard_ to try again, and again, to please your parents when inside you know that nothing you ever do is ever going to be good enough!" She paused. "You know that caring about other people is weak, but you can't stop yourself. It's hard to pretend that you don't care about anyone when you do, but it's even harder when a rival, or even your own mother, uses that against you." She turned around, and looked Ben in the eye. "You want to know why I went back to the Isle, after you saw that I was a fake?" Ben blinked. "I'm not perfect, Ben, I-"

"You don't have to be perfect," Ben interjected. He held her by her shoulders. "I love you, just the way you are, Mal! I love everything about you."

"You don't know everything about me! People, _kids_ are probably dead because of me!" Ben's face went white.

"No," he denied.

"I left them! How can I call myself good when I left them alone? Do you know how many kids are just barely getting by on the Isle?" Mal looked off to the side to avoid Ben's eyes. "Dizzy wasn't the only kid on the Isle who relied on our protection and aid. Being Maleficent's daughter was powerful. I could at least divert everyone's attention. How many kids have been beaten to death or starved between now and when I came to Auradon? I abandoned them. That's _my_ fault!"

"No, Mal, no- it's not- it's not your fault." Ben dug his hands through his hair anxiously as he turned and started to pace, too. Mal was about to object but he didn't notice. "Mal, listen to me, it's not your fault. None of this is your fault. You are good. You care, that alone means that you're good. It's not your fault." Ben finally turned around to face her again, and noticed the tears that she was keeping from falling. He pulled her into a hug, and they just stood there. Ben could feel his shirt getting wet, but didn't want to move, so he just stood there, squeezing his girlfriend and stroking her hair as she cried against him.

How was he going to fix this?

* * *

Jay woke up to a knock on the door. He moved to stand up to answer it when he realized that Evie was laying partially on him as she slept. They must have fallen asleep after all the trauma earlier. He glanced over at Carlos on Evie's other side, but it seemed she had curled onto Jay. Carlos was free. Jay nudged Carlos in the shin with his foot.

"Carlos," he whispered.

"Mmmmm." Jay kicked a little harder.

"Carlos!" Carlos sat up in his groggy post-sleep state, and someone knocked at the door again. He made a confused sound, and went to answer the door.

"Jane?" Carlos was awake almost instantly. "Dude!" The little dog barked back at Carlos, having only recently returned to normal after the truth gummy.

Evie moaned in her sleep, disturbed by the noise but not awake yet. Jay frowned. If she didn't wake up to that she must be really tired.

"Hey, bro, you good to take it outside? I don't want to wake her up," he said quietly.

Carlos nodded and noticed Jay's concern. This must have something to do with everything that happened earlier today.

Jay watched Carlos leave, and laid his head back down. Might as well try and get some more sleep. He'd wake up if Evie needed him. He always did.


	11. My Family is Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos and Jane finally talk.

Confused didn't even begin to explain how Jane was feeling. She had gotten a call from Doug a few hours ago asking her to bring Dude back to Carlos' room as soon as she made it back. He'd sounded worried, but when she asked what happened, he just told her that it wasn't really his place to say, but everyone was okay. Now, she, Carlos, and Dude were headed down to the courtyard.

"How are you?" she asked Carlos as they walked.

He turned back to her with surprise. "Oh, I'm good," he said. "Pretty great, actually. How was the Dalmatian Plantation?"

Jane grinned. "It was great. A lot of dogs. Pepper just had her second litter, so there's a lot going on."

Carlos smiled. "Oh, okay, cool."

They walked in silence for a moment, before Jane worked up the courage to ask, "Did something happen earlier today?"

"Oh, uh." Carlos was suddenly less comfortable. "Not really. Kinda'." He trailed off for a couple seconds before he said, "We just talked about the Isle for the first time in, well, ever."

"Oh." Jane didn't know how to respond to that. "Do you miss it?"

Carlos gave a dry chuckle. "Like a hole in the head," he joked.

Jane balked. "Huh?"

Carlos sobered. "No, not really. I'm really happy to be in Auradon. Things are a lot… better here."

"Really?" Jane asked surprised. "You don't miss anything from where you grew up?"

Carlos shrugged. "I guess I miss how close Evie, Mal, Jay and I were."

"We're still close," he amended at Janes confusion. "Our lives just don't overlap as much so we don't know practically everything happening with everybody else all the time anymore," he explained. "It's become more of a guessing game," he mused, a wry look on his face.

Jane still didn't quite understand what he was getting at. The VKs were some of the closest friends she knew. They spent practically all of their spare time together. She just couldn't imagine them being closer than they already were.

"What's become more of a guessing game?" she asked.

Carlos gave another nonchalant shrug. "Where we are, what we're doing, our health statuses, our feelings. Kind of our whole dynamic. It used to be intuitive."

Jane didn't know how to take that. She had never experienced an intuitive relationship like Carlos was describing.

At her silence, Carlos went on. "We're different now. We're able to be more, here, and I like that. But I don't understand everyone as well as I used to."

"That's understandable, though," Jane said. "I mean, you might never understand everything going on with Evie's dress business, but she probably doesn't understand everything with you and your tech., either."

Carlos gave a weak smile. "Yeah."

Jane tilted her head contemplating a question. "What about your family? You don't miss them?"

Carlos laughed. "Mal, Evie, and Jay are my family."

"Oh."

"Yeah." They were finally outside now, so Carlos set Dude down on the grass and led Jane over to a picnic table. They sat down across from each other and Dude hopped up onto the bench beside Carlos.

Carlos broke the silence again, "I do have people back on the Isle I miss, though."

Jane looked up at him in hopeful surprise.

"Dizzy, for one, and Jeremy. He's Prince John's son. Knows his way around a circuit board like no one else," Carlos said wistfully staring just above their hands resting on the table.

Jane smiled. "He sounds really great. I hope I get to meet him someday," she said softly.

"Me too." Carlos looked back at Jane. "I should probably—probably," he trailed off.

"Sorry." Carlos winced. "This is kinda hard for me to talk about."

"Oh, that's okay!" Jane said quickly. "You don't have to. We can talk about something else!"

"No!" Carlos protested, stopping her. "No," he said more quietly. "I just, I need to tell you a couple things. I think some changes are going to start happening, so I should probably tell you before you find out from someone else," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, okay."

"The Isle isn't really a nice place to live. Like, Auradon is really nice." Jane nodded, understanding to some degree. Auradon was pretty nice.

"But my favorite thing about Auradon? I'm free. I'm not the weakest core member of our gang, I'm not my mother's slave, I'm just, me." Carlos said.

Jane teared up a little, but he continued.

"Life on the Isle isn't really good for anyone who lives there. There's not a lot of food, the gangs are always at war, and our parents-" He cut himself off. "Just because my mom's well, my mom doesn't mean that she's not, ya' know, Cruella de Vil." He rolled his shoulders, as if trying to shrug the sentiment off. "I probably have more reason to fear her than anyone here in Auradon," Carlos joked dryly. "I- I don't think I'm ready to talk about her yet."

"That's okay, Carlos," Jane said softly. "You don't have to."

Carlos smiled. "Thanks. I just, I think Mal and Ben are going to start doing something about the Isle soon, and I wanted to, um, tell you."

"Okay," Jane said, reaching for his hand across the table. "Thanks for telling me." Dude barked, nuzzling Carlos' other arm with his head until he started petting him. "Us," she amended with a laugh.

"Yeah."


End file.
